Return of the Dragon
by BibbidiBobbidiPercabeth
Summary: The Final Battle has been founght, but an unhappy surprise at a Royal Ball throws everyone back into the fray. Takes place in between season 6 and 7. Please read the opening of the first chapter for more info! Rated cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I have been itching to write some sort of OUAT FanFiction and today's the day! Like it says in the summary (which is probably terrible) it takes place about two years after the end of Season 6. Passage between realms is now a pretty usual thing, so what do the Charmings do? Throw a Ball in the Enchanted Forest of course! Anyway, I hope everyone likes it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with the tv series Once Upon A Time.**

"Oh, Emma, I'm so excited for you!" Snow White adjusted the ruffled trim on her daughter's gown. "It's your first ball in the Enchanted Forest!" Emma smiled at her mother's fussing.

"Well, technically my second." She corrected. "Hook and I did go to that ball as Princess Leia and Prince Charles." Snow shook her head.

"Well, yeah, but it's your first ball with us!" Emma inhaled through her teeth, making a slight hissing noise.

"When the Evil Queen banished me to that wish realm, I went to several balls with you and Dad." She insisted. Snow sighed with exasperation.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Mother and daughter laughed together, then Snow's smile widened as she remembered something. "And, we get to make a very special announcement today!" Emma's smile turned into a worried line.

"You didn't tell anyone did you? Not even Dad?" She asked. Snow rolled her eyes and pouted mockingly.

"I spill one secret and no one trusts me anymore!" She complained. "I was ten!" Emma laughed.

"To be fair, in doing so, you created the Evil Queen." Snow surrendered with a sigh. "So, did you tell anyone?"

"Not a soul." Her mother promised. "We should head to the hall now. It'll be starting soon." The pair left Emma's old nursery, which had been converted into a playroom for the now three and two year old Neil and Robyn, who were with their father and mother respectively.

"It'll be Neil's first ball." Emma said, thinking of her little brother. "He didn't go to one in Camelot." Snow nodded with a smile. They reach the grand hall where David was greeting guests, his son in his arms.

"Emma, Killian is waiting for you in the ballroom." He told his daughter. Emma nodded and left her parents who now stood arm in arm. She made her way through the crowds, curtsying to people and welcoming them as she went. She made it to the ballroom and was taken aback by the royal beauty of it. Her parents really knew how to throw a ball. A dais waited at the other side, and Emma could see the rest of her family there. She hurried over and found Henry, Regina, and Zelena, who held Robyn.

"Where's Killian?" Emma asked, looking for her husband in the crowds.

"He went to go do something." Henry replied. "I don't know what." Emma nodded, then turned to keep searching. Trumpets began to blast and Snow and David entered the ballroom.

"We would like to thank everyone for coming tonight." Snow started. "It means a great deal, especially because this is the first ball where we," She gestured over to the dais. "Are a true family." There was applause and the Charmings made their way over to join their family.

"Dad, I though you said Killian was here." Emma asked. David didn't seem surprised in the least that what he'd told Emma had been false and shrugged.

"I thought that he was." Emma bit her lip, now feeling a bit concerned. "I'm sure he'll be along soon."

"I just want him here for the..." She trailed off, not wanting to spoil her little surprise that only two people knew. "I just want to know where he is." A slightly pointed tip suddenly pressed lightly against her waist.

"Well, I found him, love." Emma smiled faintly, then turned around to give Killian one of her signature 'I will kill you later' looks. "Swan, you look beautiful."

"Jones now." Emma reminded him. She kissed him lightly, then turned to look at her mother. "Can we do it now?" Snow shrugged and nodded.

"Are you sure, love?" Killian asked. "We can always do it more privately." David looked from his wife, to his daughter, and then to his son-in-law with confusion.

"What are you going to do?" He asked. Emma reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Well, you and everyone else is going to find out in just a second." Emma accepted a glass of wine from a passing server, then pulled a metal pin from her hair.

"You could've just asked for a spoon." Snow chided. Emma simply smiled and began tapping the pin to the glass, creating a lovely pinging sound that echoed through the ballroom. It took a second, but eventually the crowds fell silent.

"Okay, um hi, everyone." Emma began. With so many eyes on her, she began to feel nervous, until Killian placed a steadying hand on her forearm. "So, like my mom said, thanks for coming, and now, I would like to make a very special announcement." The crowd murmured among themselves for a moment, then turned their attention back on the princess. "So, my husband and I have recently found out that we are expecting." No reaction. "Um, a baby that is." The crowd erupted into applause and Emma turned to be embraced by her father.

"Emma, this is amazing!" David exclaimed. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Emma playfully punched her father in the shoulder.

"Dad, this isn't Storybrooke. If I want to know my baby's gender, I'm going to have to go back to my world." Snow reached over and took her daughter's hand.

"Remind me to give you something before you go to bed." Emma nodded, then turned to her son.

"I'm going to be a big brother?" He asked, sounding somewhat amazed. His mother smiled and hugged him.

"Yeah, and you're going to be wonderful at it." Emma said. Henry pulled back from the embrace wearing an enormous grin.

"I'm going to go tell, uh, some people." He said, his face turning slightly red. Henry started towards the crowd when Emma called after him.

"Tell Violet we say hi!" Emma chuckled to herself as she watched her son pause, then continue walking. Killian suddenly appeared next to her and took her hand in his.

"What do you want it to be?" He asked, setting his hook on Emma's stomach. Emma shook her head.

"As long as it's healthy." She insisted. "But I think my mother would want a girl." Killian smiled and led his pregnant wife onto the dance floor.

"If you are feeling up to it, I was wondering if you would give me the pleasure of this dance." He asked, sweeping a bow. Emma rolled her eyes.

"I'm not even showing yet, I think I can handle a dance." She said. As the couple began to move to the music, Emma realized that there was something familiar about the melody.

"It's what we danced to as Charles and Leia." Killian told her, seeing her puzzled look. "Turns out that it's a regularly played song at these things, so I asked the musicians to play it for the first dance." Emma looked at her husband with amazement.

"Almost makes me homesick for the days of playing matchmaker between my parents." Emma said. Killian laughed, but they were both thinking that compared to the Final Battle that had been fought about two years ago, being trapped in another time was definitely more appealing. For the rest of the song, everything was perfect.

But as Emma and Killian returned to the dais, a cold breeze swept through the room. The candles were extinguished and everyone started clumping together, fearing the worse. Emma broke free of her husband's grasp and searched the crowds for her son. She found Henry with an arm protectively wrapped around Violet. She pulled the both of them to the dais, and no sooner had they reached it, the doors burst opened with a clang. Screaming filled the hall, and the Charmings' pleas for their people to stay calm suddenly fell quiet. In stalked a young woman with dark hair who looked vaguely familiar to Emma. She pushed to the front of her family to get a better look.

"Lily?" She asked in shock. The woman in front of her looked exactly like Maleficent's daughter and Emma's childhood friend. But there was something off about her. Her eyes no longer contained the warmth they had gained when she and Emma had parted in Storybrooke.

"Not quite, Emma Swan." The intruder said. "Or, wait, it's Emma Jones now, isn't it?" She laughed cruelly. "How silly of me. Now then, I hear that you're expecting a little bundle of joy." Emma placed both hands on her stomach and Killian held his arm across it.

"Identify yourself at once." David demanded. The woman smile deviously and her eyes turned lime green for an instant.

"I am Maleficent's daughter of course!" She announced proudly. "You took all of the goodness my sister and I had out of me years ago." She said, pointing at Snow and David. "You gave it all to her." Her accusing finger swung towards Emma.

"So, wait, that must make you, like Lily's twin sister." Emma realized. "You must've been separated from her when she was adopted."

"Give the girl a treat." The woman sneered. Killian's hand drifted toward his sword. "And yes, when Lily was adopted, I was left in the system, but not for long. The Black Fairy took me, and for a while, I was her favorite. Then I escaped. I found my way to Wonderland where I was taken as an apprentice by the Queen of Hearts." She threw a causal look at Regina, whose fists clenched. "Never did find out what happened to her. But anyway, by then I was about twenty six, so I made my way over here, waiting for vengeance."

"Lily and Maleficent made their peace with us," Emma tried. "Can't you do the same?" The woman scoffed.

"Yes, my family went soft." She said with disgust. "I, however, will show Mummy dearest who her true daughter is!" Emma glanced back her family and was surprised to see Killian rolling his eyes.

"Well, then, if you'll be seeking revenge on us, can we at least know your name." Emma squeezes her husband's arm, afraid that his brashness would earn him more than just an answer.

"That's the funny thing!" The woman laughed. "No one ever bothered to give me a name when I was little. I had to come up with my own when the Black Fairy took me." She paused, and looked at each of the Royal Family in turn, than flashed a malicious grin. "Desdemona." Emma saw that Desdemona was reveling in her causing of fear, and took the opportunity to strike. She threw a bolt of white magic at her which Desdemona brushed it away easily and created a ball of purple flames.

"Swan, the baby!" Killian exclaimed, and pulled his wife behind him and out of harm's way. Regina joined Emma and together, they formed a spell that created a protective bubble around each person in the room except Desdemona and a domed force field around their family. Zelena was holding Robyn tight and Snow and David were doing likewise with Neil. Desdemona extinguished her flames, seeing that they'd be useless against such strong magic.

"This isn't over!" She promised. "Your shield can't protect you forever!" And with that, the daughter of Maleficent vanished in a puff of orange smoke.

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 **And that's the first chapter! I hope everyone found it at least mildly interesting. Please leave comments and tell me what I can do better! Until next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! I hope the wait wasn't unbearable , though I suspect it wasn't because of the absence of cliffhangers. Or, at least, really suspenseful cliffhangers. But anyway, here's the second chapter and I hope everyone enjoys it! So then, here we go.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing related to ABCs Once Upon a Time series**

The Ball was over. Snow and David helped to ensure that all their guests got home safely while the rest of the Royal Family headed up to their quarters. "Why did you hold me back?" Emma demanded as she and Killian waited in their chambers. The Ball had been cut so short that no one had gotten any food, so the kitchen was sending up dinner. "I could've taken care of her."

"Swan, you had to protect your people." Killian told her. "Regina couldn't have cast such a powerful spell all on her own."

"I could've done something more." Emma protested. "Now we're facing another threat. People are going to get hurt, so I have to help them by going after Desdemona! I'm the Savior!"

"Your also an expecting mother." Killian reminded her. "This woman might harm you or the baby, and I couldn't live with myself if that happened." Emma sighed.

"I still need to protect these people." She said. "And maybe offense is the best defense in this situation." Killian reached out and pushed a strand of her hair back.

"Emma, I know that you'll do what you have to in order to keep this family together." He said. "But please, for once, consider your own safety as well." Killian kissed her forehead and Emma nodded. She leaned against him, her eyes drooping.

"What time is it?" Killian glanced over at the battery clock they had brought over from Storybrooke.

"Almost nine, love." He replied. Emma nodded and let her head fall. "Do you want to sleep?" He asked. "I'll wake you up in an hour so you can eat something."

"Yeah, sleep." She said. Killian gently laid his wife onto the bed and kissed her. Then he rubbed her stomach lightly, fondly thinking of the baby she would bear. "Don't let me go to sleep for good without food." Emma mumbled.

"Not in a million years." Her husband replied. Minutes passed. There was a knock on the door that Killian went to answer. Instead of the kitchen staff however, is a flustered looking Snow. She is as surprised to see her son-in-law as Killian is to see her.

"Is Emma here?" She asked, peering around the former pirate. Killian noticed that she was tightly clutching a pendant.

"She's asleep." Snow nodded, then held out the pendant.

"Give this to Emma." She instructed. "It was David's mother's. God it over her palm and if it swings North to South, it's a boy, East to West, it's a girl. It worked for both me and his mother." Killian accepted the pendant. As a superstition pirate, he couldn't not believe in the amulet's ability. "Took me a while to find." Snow added.

"I'll get it to her." Killian promised. Snow left and Killian closed the door behind her. He was half tempted to wake his wife so they could find out the gender of their child. He resisted, however, and instead sat back down next to Emma. She looked incredibly peaceful and Killian wished that she would look like that more often. Eventually, the desire for rest grew so great that Killian lay down next to his wife, telling himself that he would just close his eyes for a moment.

That however, failed, and nearly an hour later, Emma was shaking him awake. "Hook! Wake up!" Immediately, Killian sat up and started to reach for his sword. Nowadays, Emma only called him Hook when they were fighting. However, when his eyes fell on Emma, he noticed a playful gleam in them. "I knew that would wake you up." She said mischievously.

"Bad form, Swan." Killian grumbled. "Is the food here yet?" Emma laughed and handed him a tray.

"It came about forty-five minutes ago. But you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you." She said. "But then I figured that the food would be starting to cool by now, so I decided to take a chance." Emma frowned slightly. "You are a really heavy sleeper you know."

"Aye, I've been told many a time by me crew." Killian replied, glancing at the meal he'd been given. He wasn't comfortable eating the rich, heavy castle food, and usually asked the kitchens for the simple seafare food he was used to. Suddenly, Emma sat up straight as she recalled something.

"Oh, my mom said to see her after the Ball about something." She started to to push her tray aside and Killian remembered the charm Snow had given him.

"Wait." He hooked Emma's wrist with his hook and pulled the charm from a pocket with his good hand. "Your mother stopped by and told me to give this to you." He dangled the pendant over Emma's plan. "If it swings North to South, it's a boy, East to West, a girl." The charm started to swing, but in a strange, irregular pattern.

"What's happening?" Emma asked nervously. "Is it working?" Killian watched the charm, trying to make sense of it, but it seemed to hit every direction.

"I don't know, love." He said. "Maybe it's to early to know?" Emma's eyes began to water as the worst possible scenarios began to go through her head.

"What if I have a miscarriage?" She retracted her hand. "Maybe that's why it's not working." Killian pulled his wife into his arms and stroked her hair soothingly.

"Shh, it's all going to be okay." He said. "You are going to have a healthy boy or girl who is going to grow up to be just as strong and brave as their mother." Emma gave her husband a watery smile. "Now, if you're all done eating, Princess, I suggest you get some sleep." Emma nodded and shakily stood up to change into her nightclothes.

Meanwhile, in Snow and David's chamber, Snow was telling Neil hat he had to get to sleep.

"I wanna help Emma fight the scary lady!" The three year old insisted. "I don't wanna sleep!"

"Yes, but if you don't sleep, you won't have enough strength to fight." Snow told him. Neil crossed his arms stubbornly. "Please, sweetie, you've got to calm down." David watched the scene with a smile and then had an idea.

"Why don't we bring you to your big sister so she can tell you a story!" He suggested. Neil clapped his hands and started waddling towards the door. Snow pulled her husband aside

"What if she's asleep?" She demanded. "It's late, Emma's probably tired, and we don't want to wake her."

"If she is asleep, then Neil will see how important it is for him to sleep." David replied. "Or he gets a story and he calm down. It's a win-win." Snow shrugged and went to catch up to her son. The threesome wound their way through the halls before reaching Emma and Killian's room. David knocked softly and was relieved when his daughter answered. She was dressed for bed in sweatpants and an old t-shirt, but her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying.

"Story! Story!" Neil chanted, holding his arms out to his big sister.

"We can come back later." Snow offered, looking at Emma's red eyes. Emma shook her head and managed a smile before stopping down to pick up her little brother.

"You two go to bed. I'll take him to the playroom when we're done." She told her tired looking parents, who nodded before leaving. "Killian, we've got a story to tell." Emma called to her husband who was changing for bed.

"Is that right, love?" Killian called back, his voice muffled. Moments later, he came out and saw his little brother-in-law. "Hello there, mate."

"Killin!" Neil exclaimed. "Story time?" Emma sat down on the bed, Neil in her lap, and Killian sat next to them.

"Aye, story time." Killian confirmed. "Which one do you want to hear?" The Royal Family definitely had an abundance of stories to tell. Neil thought for a moment, then decided.

"When Auntie Zelena kidnapped me!" Neil always tended to favor the stories that he was in.

"Well, it was just after you were born." Emma started. "We had done everything possible to make sure no one could get to you, but Zelena was stronger." Neil listened, wide-eyed. "She came in and destroyed all of our defenses, and then, not a minute after you were out," Neil made a face. "She swooped in, grabbed you and disappeared."

"What about Mama and Daddy?" He asked worriedly. "Did she hurt them? Did she keep them from coming after me?"

"No, she just froze them so she could take you." Emma replied. "And as soon as they came out of it, Dad grabbed his sword to go after you. I went with him, though I was powerless because someone," Emma glared at Killian. "Couldn't stay alive." Neil giggled. "So, Killian came as well, so did Auntie Regina and Robin Hood." The little boy's face lit up with excitement.

"Robin Hood came to rescue me?" He asked. Emma nodded.

"So, we all went to the barn where Zelena had taken you. She was trying to go back in time so her mother wouldn't give her up. However, Zelena had Uncle Rumple's dagger so that might have been the bigger threat." Neil frowned.

"Why weren't he and Auntie Belle and Gideon at the Ball?" He asked.

"Um, Gold said something about an nonnegotiable family dinner night." Emma replied. She noticed that her little brother was starting to look tired and smiled to herself. "Now, hush. Anyway, we were trying to get you, but Zelena had these crazy flying monkeys trying to get us. Finally though, Regina managed to defeat her sister with light magic and we got you back. And do you know what Dad said about you?"

"What?" Neil mumbled sleepily.

"That you can handle anything. The end." Emma finished.

"Nice story, love." Killian told his wife. "Shall I take him to the nursery?" Emma shook her head and stood up.

"I kind of want to do it. You go to sleep." She said. Killian nodded and Emma headed out. The playroom wasn't too far from her room, and she carefully placed her little brother on a pile of pillows in one corner. Then, she found a blanket and tucked him in. Neil always liked sleeping in the playroom better, so Emma figured he'd be pleased to wake up there. She kissed his forehead, and was about to leave when she noticed the wardrobe in the corner. An exact replica of the one she'd been transported to the really one in. To her knowledge, her parents hadn't had another one created. Emma went over to touch it, just to make sure it was real. As soon as she made contact though, a burning sensation rushed through her veins.

"Emma." A voice hissed. "Come to the Forbidden Fortress. It is the only way your family will survive. You must be alone." As soon as the message was spoken, the wardrobe disintegrated and the dust was blown away. Emma stepped back, shaking. She glanced at Neil to make sure he was still asleep. Then, with quiet determination, she crept towards the armory, regardless of the late hour. Emma had no idea when the person who'd contacted her wanted to see her, but she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to help her family.

When she arrived at the armory, she found the hunting clothes her mother had used when she was an outlaw. Not a perfect fit, but Emma didn't have any clothes from her land except for her pajamas, and she wasn't about to trek to the Forbidden Fortress in a ball gown. She also grabbed a sword and a gun, one of the few possessions she kept in the Enchanted Forest at all time. Emma then quickly hurried towards the servants' exit. She was in the courtyard when she suddenly sensed someone behind her.

"Mom?" A voice asked. "Where are you going?"

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 **Well, I'm sorry about this cliffhanger. I'll try not to make the wait to unbearable, although you could encourage me to post quicker if you review my work. What? No I'm not bribing you. Psh. But anyway, please tell me what I can do better and I'll see you when I post.**


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